TI5 group stage standings, day 1: LGD tops Group A, followed by Secret; VG takes the lead in Group B

After almost 15 hours of back-to-back games, the TI5 group stage standings after the first day are somewhat unexpected. LGD tops Group A with six points, followed by The International 5 odds-on favorites, Team Secret, with four points. In the more balanced Group B, Vici Gaming took the lead after one victory and one tie. Team Empire, Cloud 9 and Invictus Gaming wrap-up the first day of the TI5 group stage with only one point each.

UPDATE (August 9):

Evil Geniuses are your TI5 champions! Grand Finals VODS, summaries, pictures and highlights: here.

LGD Gaming closed out their first day of the TI5 Group Stage with a perfect run, sweeping through both Cloud 9 and compLexity with clean 2:0 scores. The Chinese team tops Group A, with 6 points, and seems to be in great shape. They will face against Invictus Gaming and MVP.Phoenix on July 28th, starting with 18:00 CEST.

Team Secret finished the day with one victory and one tie, after suffering an atypical heavy defeat in their second game against Mushi’s Fnatic. Secret will face Cloud 9 and Natus Vincere on July 28th, starting with 20:00 CEST.

North American team compLexity Gaming fared well so far. They managed to take down MVP.Phoenix in a clean 2:0 sweep but lost their series against LGD Gaming.

After day one of the TI5 Group Stage, Fnatic and Natus Vincere are positioned in the middle of Group A’s hierarchy, with two points each. MVP.Phoenix, Cloud 9 and Invictus Gaming kicked off the TI5 Group Stage with rather shaky performances and share the last place in the group, with only one point each.

Group B had only seven series played during the first day of the TI5 Group Stage – one less than Group A.

Little surprise to see ViCi Gaming topping their group stage with four points. They were able to take both games against Team Empire, but ended up in a tie against MVP.Phoenix.

More of a surprise to many is how strong CDEC Gaming has looked, placing second in their group so far with three points. However, CDEC has played only one series so far. They will face Virtus.Pro and Team Empire, during the second day of the group stage.

Defending champions Newbee managed a commendable act. They tied both their series against Virtus.Pro and Evil Geniuses. They shocked everyone when they shutdown EG, outsmarting and outplaying them with a very aggressive pick.

Evil Geniuses and Virtus.Pro are both sitting at a 50% win rate, tying up both of their series.

Team Empire started out the day with a lackluster performance and dropped both games in their series against ViCi Gaming, thus failing to snatch a single point against them. They were able to tie up their series against EHOME to end the day with one point, at the bottom of Group B.

MVP.Hot6ix struggled a bit more than was expected, losing both their games against CDEC. They did manage to grab a surprising win against ViCi Gaming after a great performance, but lost their second match against them with an unconventional Huskar pick. Just like Team Empire, the Koreans are at the bottom of Group B, with only one point.

EHOME only had one series to start out the first day. They seized the first game against Team Empire, and dropped the second one and ended up with one point to start their run in the TI5 group stage.

TI5 Group Stage standings

TI5 Group Stage day 1 games

Group A: LGD 2:0 Cloud 9

In a classic Cloud 9 style, Game 1 extended to over 70 minutes. Cloud 9 were ahead by 20K in net worth, but LGD managed to wipe the deficit and turn the game. With his two Divine Rapiers on Ember Spirit, LGD’s Lu “Maybe” Yao staged a spectacular comeback and got a Beyond Godlike streak.

In the second game, LGD comes out strong with the first five kills, setting the pace for what would end up being a complete domination over the European team. Cloud 9 managed to put up a good defense and effort. In a Hail Mary play, Jacky “Eternal Envy” Mao purchased Divine Rapier and was able to take barracks with it. They continued to hold on and try to outplay LGD. but after 66 minutes LGD claimed the victory.

Group A: compLexity 2:0 MVP.Phoenix

Right out of the gate in Game 1, MVP.Phoenix landed the first two kills against compLexity. A cheeky hidden refresher that was bought and put on courier after use on Zakari “Zfreek” Freedman’s Enigma, caught MVP.Phoenix off guard at base when he unleashed his second blackhole, giving compLexity the opportunity to go to barracks and get mega creeps.

In the second game compLexity were able to repel MVP.Phoenix’s aggressive lineup and gain map control and the lead for the entire game.

Group A: Fnatic 1:1 Team Secret

In the first game of the series, Team Secret’s farm was just too dominant for Fnatic to do much of anything, even though the Malaysians were very calculated and avoided unnecessary risks.

During the second game, Fnatic’s lineup was extremely abusive, with four of the best meta heroes. The Malaysians were able to stomp their way to victory with no contest from Team Secret.

Group A: Invictus Gaming 0:2 Team Secret

Team Secret post-match discussion during the first day of the TI5 Group Stage

A team fight at Roshan would result in Team Secret wiping out Invictus Gaming, followed by another team wipe in base, with Artour “Arteezy” Babaev being the last man standing. He had an incredible Game 1 on his unstoppable Templar Assassin, helping to lead his team in a crushing win.

The Broodmother pick for Ludwig “zai” Wåhlberg would prove to be a force to be reckoned with (final score of 10:0:9). With two couriers making deliveries for Team Secret, they were enjoying their position and comfortable lead before ending the game in 29 minutes.

Group A: Natus Vincere 1:1 Cloud 9

After another over an hour long game, Cloud 9 fought valiantly to defend their base and didn’t give up, this time to their advantage. With Eternal Envy going for a Divine Rapier again, Cloud 9 went straight for the throne.

Game 2 would be a stark contrast to the first one: a 25 minute long, one-sided match favoring Na’Vi. Na’Vi chose three of the meta’s favorite heroes to stomp through the Cloud 9, with Danil “Dendi” Ishutin going 11:0:15 on Leshrac and another display of amazing talent by the rising star Akbar “SoNNeikO” Butaev on EarthShaker.

Group A: compLexity 0:2 LGD

With a dominant performance and phenomenal team play, LGD were able to shut down compLexity’s Emberspirit and Clinkz, while their Phantom Lancer and Gyrocopter gained their needed farm. LGD cinched the victory with a score of 27:4, in just 25 minutes.

LGD secured first blood with their Tiny-Io combo and, by minute seven, the score was 6:0 in their favor, with MMY! on Io having been involved in all six kills. LGD were able to snowball, giving no hopes of recovery to compLexity and taking the second game in 26 minutes, with a score of 5:38.

Group A: Invictus Gaming 1:1 Fnatic

Fnatic after their loss to IG in the TI5 Group Stage

Game 1 would be pure domination of the Chinese team over the Malaysians. Invictus Gaming seemed to bait Fnatic into their typical picks, but then counter picked with one of IG’s old strats, Brewmaster and Phantom Lancer. IG easily took control over the game and won.

Some incredible plays in what has been the longest game of the event thus far: 95 minutes. Chai “Mushi” Yee Fung’s Templar Assassin, equipped with a double Divine Rapier, would give Fnatic the victory in the back and forth match, tying up the series.

Group A: Natus Vincere 1:1 MVP.Phoenix

In Game 1, Damien “kphoenii” Chok’s Gyrocopter became insanely farmed. Na’Vi’s usual Phantom Assassin-Magnus combo was not strong enough to stop the over-farmed hero. An uncommon Slark mid pick was also a great counter to Magnus and gave MVP.Phoenix the advantage.

Na’Vi had a fantastic Game 2, as Danil “Dendi” Ishutin’s Shadow Fiend simply destroyed Kim “QO” Seon-yeopon on mid, going 13:0:9 by the end of the game.

Group B: Virtus.Pro 1:1 Newbee

Virtus.Pro had control for the most part of the first game, with one of their classic Treant picks. Ilya “Illidan” Pivcaev and Sergey “God” Alexandrovich Bragin had a great game, contributing to VP’s victory.

Zhang “Mu” Pan had a great Game 2, with a 11:2:12 score on his Ember Spirit. Paired with the hottest meta pick, Gyrocopter, who continues to dominate, there was no real way for Virtus.Pro to gain control. Defending champions Newbee managed to tie the series.

Group B: Team Empire 0:2 ViCi Gaming

Vici Gaming

Team Empire‘s Tiny-Io combo in Game 1 would not be enough to stop ViCi Gaming from dominating. VG took the victory in 39 minutes.

Game 2 would start out fairly even between the two teams, giving a slight advantage to Team Empire around mid game. However, Team Empire failed to hold on to it for too long and ViCi Gaming pushed ahead to take the win.

Group B: MVP.Hot6ix 0:2 CDEC

MVP.Hot6

Game 1 ended after 76 exhausting minutes. CDEC’s Sun “Agressif” Zheng’s Gyrocopter reached an astounding 26:5:17 score by the end of the game.

Game 2 was much shorter, ending in 34 minutes. The game was pretty much one-sided, with CDEC establishing and then maintaining control since the very beginning. Once again, “Agressif”‘s Gyrocopter would be a key factor in the team’s dominance. CDEC wins

Group B: Evil Geniuses 1:1 Newbee

Evil Geniuses setting up

Newbee shocked everyone when they shutdown Evil Geniuses in Game 1, outsmarting and outplaying them with a very aggressive pick. Wang “Rabbit” Zhang’s Storm Spirit dominated, while Peter “PPD” Dager’s Treant did little to help keep EG’s heroes and towers alive.

Newbee had a great start in Game 2, but Evil Geniuses came online after the early game and were able to take control in a convincing manner to win the game and tie up the series. Evil Geniuses win

Group B: EHOME 1:1 Team Empire

Team Empire

After a grueling 71 minute long Game 1, filled with back and forth leads and epic comebacks from both teams, it would be EHOME that would eventually take the victory, despite Team Empire having a Gyrocopter. Roman “Resolut1on” Fominok had an exceptional game on Lina, with a 21:2:10 score.

Both teams looked really strong and confident during Game 2, but Empire would take control starting about mid game and maintain it for the entire duration of the game. Another great game by “Resolut1on” and another strong Gyrocopter by Airat “Silent” Gaziev would be Team Empire’s ticket to evening out the series and taking the win.

Group B: MVP.Hot6ix 1:1 ViCi Gaming

Although Vici Gaming took the Gyrocopter pick in Game 1, MVP.Hot6ix were able to keep it under control well enough for them to establish the early lead and hold on to it for the entire duration of the game. With a phenomenal performance by Lee “FoREV” Sang-don on Lina, going 20:3:7, and Pyo “MP” No-a’s Storm Spirit doing exceptionally well, the Koreans were unstoppable. However, it would be MP‘s Aegis steal, followed by a team wipe on VG at the Roshan Pit, that would seal the deal and allow the Koreans to easily claim the victory.

MVP.Hot6ix chose an unconventional Huskar in their lineup, along with the Bounty Hunter and Blood Seeker, but none of them would serve the Koreans well against ViCi Gaming’s domination with Xie “Super” Junhao’s Leshrac being 11:6:15, Chen “Hao” Zhihao’s Ember Spirit with 13:1:9, and Daryl Koh “iceiceice” Pei Xiang’s Timbersaw with 15:8:10.

Group B: Evil Geniuses 1:1 Virtus.Pro

Although Virtus.Pro seemed to have the advantage in the early game, Evil Geniuses took control by mid game. Syed Sumail “Suma1l” Hassan’s Templar Assassin was too powerful, with a score of 9:2:3, and EG took the victory.

Virtus.Pro would take the early advantage once again in Game 2. After a few back and forth fights and swings in net-worth during the mid game, Virtus.Pro were able to keep hold of their lead and gain enough to push ahead and secure the win.

TI5 group stage, day 2 schedule

TI5 Group Stage Format

• Ten invited teams: Team Secret, Evil Geniuses, Vici Gaming, Team Empire, Virtus.Pro, LGD Gaming, Fnatic, Invictus Gaming, Newbee, Cloud 9

• Four qualified teams: Natus Vincere (TI5 European Qualifiers), MVP.Hot6ix (TI5 SEA Qualifiers), compLexity Gaming (TI5 Americas Qualifiers), EHOME (TI5 Chinese Qualifiers)

• Two Wild Card teams: CDEC and MVP.Phoenix

• Teams are placed into two groups of eight.

• Each team faces all the other teams in their group in a best-of-two series, over the course of four days, July 27-30.

• The winner of a best-of-two series takes 3 points. If the series is tied, both teams receive 1 point.

• Potential tiebreakers are played on the fourth day of the TI5 Group Stage, on July 30.

• Bottom four teams in each group will be placed into Lower Bracket of the Main Event.

• Top four teams in each group will advance into the Upper Brackets of the Main Event.

• The TI5 Group Stage establishes the seeding for the main event. All 16 teams will advance to the TI5 Main Event.

TI5 Streams

• Games are broadcast simultaneously on three streams. TI5 English streams: Stream A, Stream B, and Stream C
• TI5 Russian streams: Stream A, Stream B, and Stream C
• TI5 Chinese streams: Stream A, Stream B, and Stream C
• TI5 French stream: GamingLive
• TI5 YouTube live-streams are also available: English, Russian
• Dota 2 fans can also catch all the games broadcasted live in 1080p, at 60 frames per second, on the DotaTV streaming platform. The platform features real-time stats, graphs, match data and more intuitive analytics.
• The Newcomer Show – a once-a-day show that is tailor-made for people who are new to Dota 2, with live commentary designed for those who want to learn the basics of the game.